Suburban
The floods witnessed in Harare West this week are a stark reminder of the need on the planning authorities, land developers, residents and all concerned to ensure town planning, environmental and building by-laws are followed to the letter.
Scenes of collapsed security walls, houses submerged in water, pets and sliding gates being washed away by water revealed the extent of the damage left by Sunday’s floods in Goodhope, Willow Creek, Tynwald North and Westgate.
Household property was also damaged as the water gushed into residents’ yards and houses leaving a good number to count their losses. A few years ago, the Harare Wetlands Trust warned of the likelihood of flooding in some parts of the capital city given how some people were building houses and other buildings on practically every open space, wetland, along streams and on river banks.
The prediction by the wetlands body has come to pass and those who do not pay attention to the importance of the environment should not be wondering what hit them.
In 2019 the wetlands body projected that there was a likelihood of a repeat of the 2017 flooding which was witnessed in the Borrowdale, Borrowdale Brooke and Glen Lorne areas when residents woke up to massive destruction and flooded homes. Several houses along Crowhill Road were affected and residents at the time could not figure out how the floods had hit them.
Families in the Harare North suburbs were left stranded while property worth tens of thousands of dollars was destroyed following heavy rains that pounded Carrick Estate.
One of the residents had his vehicle swept away for about 500 metres from his house into Mubvinzi River, with his property flooded. Other residents lost household property.
Harare Wetlands Trust’s warning came as the northern suburbs and several other parts of the city particularly in Harare East and Harare West had witnessed a sharp rise in invasion of wetlands for property development. In January 2019, some parts of Matidoda and Lenana Park, also in Harare West, were badly hit by floods following the heavy rains that fell in the capital city. And this time around residents of Goodhope, Willow Creek, Tynwald North and Westgate are the ones on the receiving end of the power of nature. It is clear that some of the houses are close to streams with others in the direction of Gwebi River while parts of these suburbs do not have drainage systems and where they exist they have long been clogged by residents dumping rubbish in the drains, which are supposed to carry water to the city’s rivers. Once the current rainy season passes, we are convinced nothing will be done to rectify the situation because the 2017 floods did not send enough chilling warning to residents whose properties are on marshlands or have built in areas without drainage systems.
Residents and authorities will be awoken from their slumber again when another floods disaster hits another part of the capital city. While no lives have been lost so far in the 2017 Borrowdale and Glen Lorne floods and this year’s floods in Harare West, human fatalities will one day be witnessed if no action is taken to rectify these settlements.
